Since 1982, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional
Office for Europe has sponsored a cross-national, school-based study
of health-related attitudes and behaviors of young people. These
studies, generally known as Health Behavior in School-Aged Children
(HBSC), are based on nationally independent surveys of school-aged
children in as many as 30 participating countries. The HBSC studies
were conducted every four years since the 1985-1986 school year. The
United States was one of three countr... (more info)

Since 1982, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional
Office for Europe has sponsored a cross-national, school-based study
of health-related attitudes and behaviors of young people. These
studies, generally known as Health Behavior in School-Aged Children
(HBSC), are based on nationally independent surveys of school-aged
children in as many as 30 participating countries. The HBSC studies
were conducted every four years since the 1985-1986 school year. The
United States was one of three countries chosen to implement the
survey out of cycle. The data available here are the results of the
United States study from the 1995-1996 school year. The study results
can be used as stand-alone data, or to compare to the other countries
involved in the international HBSC. The HBSC study has two main
objectives. The first objective is to monitor health-risk behaviors
and attitudes in youth over time to provide background and identify
targets for health promotion initiatives. The second objective is to
provide researchers with relevant information to understand and
explain the development of health attitudes and behaviors through
early adolescence. The study contains variables dealing with many
types of drugs such as tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, cocaine,
inhalants, hallucinogens, and over-the-counter medications. The study
also examines a person's health and health behaviors such as eating
habits, depression, injuries, anti-social behavior including questions
concerning bullying, fighting, using weapons, and how one deals with
anger. There are also questions concerning problems with attention
span at school and opinions about school itself.

To protect the anonymity of respondents, all variables
that could be used to identify individuals have been collapsed or
recoded in the public use files. These modifications should not affect
analytic uses of the public use files.

Methodology

Sample:
This study employed a three-stage cluster design in which
the school district was the primary sampling unit (PSU) or first stage
(sometimes smaller districts were combined as a single PSU), school
was the second stage, and classroom was the third stage. The targeted
mean in the age groups were 11.5, 13.5, and 15.5 years. The three
selected age groups correspond approximately to grades 6, 8, and 10 in
the United States. However, the degree of correspondence varied
greatly, depending on the frequency with which students were left back
(repeated a grade) and the time of year when the survey was
administered.

Data Source:

self-enumerated questionnaires

Extent of Processing: ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of
disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major
statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to
these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

Performed consistency checks.

Created online analysis version with question text.

Checked for undocumented or out-of-range codes.

Version(s)

Original ICPSR Release:2001-08-14

Version History:

2008-04-23 The principal investigator supplied a
new data file that contained the complex sample design variables that
were missing from the file previously. A few variable's value labels
were updated to match more closely what is shown in the questionnaire.
Also data in a few variables were recoded to correct errors. Two new
variables, SIBGUARD and RESPADLT, were created to indicate the
person(s) responsible for the care of the respondent. Another new
variable Q97_COMP was created. It recodes Q97 into a dichotomous
Yes/No relationship asking if the respondent had ever used
over-the-counter medications.